Irish Time

Monday, February 15, 2010

The word boycott originated in Ireland during the "Land War" from the name of Charles Boycott, the agent of Britiish absentee landlord, Earl Erne, who was subject to social ostracism organized by Michael Davitt's Irish Land League in 1880. Protesting tenants demanded from Boycott a reduction in rents. He refused and also evicted them from the land.

Despite the short-term economic hardship to those undertaking this action, Boycott found himself isolated, his workers in one of the few instances of organized Irish unity, stopped work. Local Irish business in solidarity stopped trading with him.

The organized united action meant that Boycott was unable to hire anyone to harvest the crops in his charge. Eventually 50 bigoted Orange barstewards from Cavan and Monaghan volunteered to harvest his crops. They were escorted from Claremorris by a thousand British police and soldiers. This protection ended up costing far more than the harvest was worth. After the harvest, the "boycott" was successfully continued.

The following is a current example of an Irish boycott in progress.

Irish Civil Society to Boycott Israel

If Israel IS doing the right thing why do they need so many propagandists?

Why do they need the most powerful lobby in the world that has bought and paid for Congress and threatens any member who dares to speak out against Israeli atrocities?

Why do they need such a highly financed lobby to write legislation that involves Israel in the US?

Why does such a small country have all of their nuclear weapons targeted against their neighbours. Its one of the smallest countries in the world, suppose every country in the world was allowed to point nuclear weapons at their neighbours ???

Irish people are waking up and realizing that Israel is a danger to the entire world.

An honourable brave Jew states the following: Israel should have known from the beginning that when you ethnically cleanse a people from their lands that they will never live in peace. I say this as a Jew whose family member back in early 1948 participated in the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians. This same family member, then a major in the IDF told me that if Israel goes they will take the world with them. That includes you and your family, so you had better press for a end to occupation and an end to settlements because one day Israel will go and I sure as hell don't want to give my life for them.

The following letter was published in a full-page advertisement in The Irish Times